Tyshawn Lee, 9, Murder Suspects Beaten, Threatened In Jail

Three men charged in death of Tyshawn Lee report beatings and threats from other inmates.

Three men arrested on charges in the death of Tyshawn Lee, 9, were all either placed in protective custody or granted transfers from Chicago’s Cook County Jail after they were beaten or threatened by other inmates, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Corey Morgan, Kevin Edwards, and Dwright Boone-Doty are all awaiting trial in the November 2015 death of Tyshawn, who was lured into an alley, and shot in the head, sending shockwaves around the globe, and demands that authorities address escalating violence in the city.

Police say Tyshawn was a target because his father, Pierre Stokes, is an alleged leader in the Gangster Disciples, a rival to the suspects’, Black Pstones. The rivalry reached a deadly climax when the mother and brother of suspected shooter Morgan were allegedly shot by Gangster Disciples. Morgan’s brother died from injuries sustained that night. The Sun-Times reports that 20 days after the shooting, Tyshawn was lured from a park near his grandmother’s house.

Since Morgan’s arrest in late November, he has been threatened with death and beaten by other inmates. A sheriff’s report written after Morgan’s first court appearance says, “Detainees in the bullpen next to detainee Morgan recognized him from the news and began shouting at him saying they were going to get him and that he was going to die.”

Morgan, Edwards, and Boone have all reported death threats and assaults by inmates in the Cook County Jail. Morgan filed for protective custody on the same day he was detained, and he was ultimately moved to the Kankakee County Jail. Boone-Doty Was also granted protective custody, but was placed in “disciplinary segregation” after a February 2016 fight.

Boone-Doty made a court appearance on Thursday, and his lawyers refused to comment on the threats he received that possibly led to his July 7th suicide attempt. Edwards, the third suspect, was transferred to the Livingston County jail just days after being detained in Cook County.